Hello everyone,
a bit about me. i am a rural mail carrier, married with 3 kids (two from a previous marriage and one is hers from her previous). All 3 kids are out out and out...but you wouldn't know it from the "visits" and phone calls asking advice. anyway...
as i said i work for the USPS (no postal jokes please) and yesterday (feb 23rd) we started our National Mail Count.
NMC is how the rural mail carriers salaries are determined.
a quick explination of NMC: Mgmt litterally counts every piece of mail we handle every day for two weeks. they also count our parcels and our "accountables" (certifieds registered ect) and several other things we do in our daily routine. i won't get into most of it because i barely understand alot of it myself (i know this sounds bad since it has a direct effect on my pay, but i never went to law school nor am i the brightest cookie in the jar).
the "standards" have been agreed upon by our union reps and mgmt but they leave alot of gray around the definitions.
this is where the "even keel" comes in. the 'counters' have their instructions, and the membership has ours. we have been told to question anything we have 'doubts' about as to their category ie: letter, flat, parcel.
i understand mgmt's stand as to trying to save money, but since i am on the other side of the fence, i am more apt to agree with the membership. there is a fine line between making 40000$ a year and making 41500$.
the real problem is we have to work together the other 50 weeks of the year. tempers and patience are already in short supply. so how does one know when your pushing to far and should back off? or should you trudge on and hope it works out for the best?
p.s. for the next couple of weeks please be nice to your carrier (wouldn't hurt the rest of the year as well) we are human just like everyone else.
A Dream Warrior
Maintaining An Even Keel
February 24th, 2008 at 09:48 pm
February 24th, 2008 at 10:27 pm 1203892025
February 25th, 2008 at 01:25 pm 1203945934
As for the be nice to your mail carrier comment, I just want to ask that I get a regular mail person, and that they quit messing up our mail. With eight houses and six doubles, the addresses can't be all that hard. Once, the carrier had my neighbors mail stopped. Without any authorization!!! HOW can he DO that?????
Oh well, if we were to have everything perfect in life, it would be boring.
You don't have to be the brightest cookie in the jar, just the most fun loving, tastest one.